Why We Gather
November 2024
Dearest NoCo Family,
Community can be a real struggle sometimes. It takes no small amount of patience, humility, & selflessness to work & play well with others, even with those whom we are most alike—but especially with those who do not think or behave in ways we prefer.
However, we cannot fully thrive nor live into our purpose without community, & we should not expect to grow if that community is one homogenous echo chamber. The more we all place our own needs aside, lean into the discomfort of diversity, & act in the interests of others (expecting no reward), the more we will see heaven on earth.
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy & beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, & patience, bearing with one another &, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms & hymns & spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
– Colossians 3:12-17
Whether or not you believe as we do, there is something to be gained from this passage. Genuine compassion, humility, thankfulness, & forgiveness are some of the foundational building blocks to healthy relationships. We’ve been blessed to see pockets of heaven on earth through community over the past couple of months. We hope you are encouraged by these stories & will consider how you can be a part of The Novelty Collective community!
Halloween at The COVE
Halloween is a NoCo favorite because it creates the perfect opportunity for meaningful interactions with the beautiful families who live in our neighborhood. We host a big party every year at The COVE Art Center during trick-or-treat hours with games, crafts, movies, & decor all centered around a common theme. This year, we chose The Addams Family! We also provide hot food, since “candy salad” (as one of our students called it) does not actually provide the proper nourishment a tired trick-or-treater needs.
We had a wonderful time serving our old friends & welcoming new acquaintances. There were people we had never met expressing their gratitude for our presence in the community & what we do for the youth. We can never guess how engaging our silly activities will be, but they were all a huge hit, from graveyard corn hole to spooky pipe-cleaner spiders. We were also surprised to see how many kids stayed to watch the animated Addams Family movie!
This simple but sincere gesture of generosity has impacted families in our area year after year, strengthening relationships & creating new connections. So, even though hosting a Halloween party inside a church might seem a bit strange or awkward to some, we will keep doing it as long as it continues to bear good fruit!
NoCo Fest 2024
The Novelty Collective Music & Arts Festival has been around for eight years now, & it just keeps getting better! Our most recent festival took place on November 8th & 9th. There are no words to describe just how amazing this event was, but we just published a newsletter in an attempt to verbalize some of the beauty we witnessed! You can read the recap here:
The COVE: Afterschool
A Banner Year
Since we started back up in September, this season of Afterschool has been incredible. Students have shown more consistent engagement with the arts this year than in previous years, not to mention increased initiative. Some of our kids don’t even put their backpacks away or grab a snack before they end up in one of our art studios! Painting, Illustration, & Jewelry-Making have long been tied for popularity, & they continue to see regular use, but LEGO® is definitely a contender for top Studio of 2024. It has been a joy to watch our students try new mediums, discover what they really enjoy, & grow in their abilities.
Recently we’ve even had some guest appearances by local artists who’ve taken an interest in teaching our students:
Storytelling is perhaps the oldest & most prominent art form in all of human history. There are so many different ways to articulate a compelling story, from a simple letter to a large-scale dramatic production. Aldrea has been coming to The COVE to show our students different styles of storytelling & how we can engage our minds with the stories being told. She chooses stories that challenge our students to learn about people & understand their history before making judgments. We are so excited to hang out with Aldrea & see what she has in store for us!
Improv Class has given our students a great opportunity to think outside the box & learn to act without a script. School is tough. It’s no secret that kids deal with a lot of intense situations & issues no child should have to endure. When it’s Improv day during Afterschool, they get to act silly, forget about the heaviness of their day, & just be kids. Improv is more than an art form; it’s a therapeutic & even healing. We can’t thank our Improv teachers Rae & Jake enough for introducing our students to such a fun & exciting way to create!
Felting was such a successful class last year that we made it a much more prominent feature in our newly redesigned Mixed Media Studio. Our friend (& mother to one of our students) Lanae is back to teach felting again, & we couldn’t be more excited! We can’t wait to see all the imaginative little characters & scenes our students will create as they master the art. Lanae not only teaches our kids, but she also rallies donors to send us more felting materials! We love having her back at The COVE this year, & our kids do, too.
If you have a creative skill that you would like to teach or simply demonstrate for our Afterschool students, we would very much love to have a conversation! Passing on what you have learned is an invaluable gift to the next generation & a personally rewarding experience. We welcome artists who can only commit to a one-time appearance, but we are very interested in placing more folks on a consistent schedule.
Message us to learn more:
A Letter to Live By
As steadily as our students have been creating, they’ve also been highly attentive during our daily Bible lessons. Since Afterschool is a drop-in program, our students are free to leave The COVE at any time, so we’re very happy when we have a room full of inquisitive minds eager to learn when we begin our lesson! Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus is a treasure trove of good news for the believer, foundational theology, & important principles for spiritual formation. However, these concepts can get pretty dense & require a lot of digestion to fully grasp, so we are taking our time, carefully dissecting each passage & conducting comprehensive word studies along the way.
Some of our students have very little familiarity with the Bible, so we keep an open dialogue with them during lessons, supplement teaching with video content, & show them how to take solid notes so they don’t miss a thing. Note-taking has been an especially productive exercise, thanks to those of you who provided each student with his or her own copy of the Book of Ephesians at the beginning of the school year! These little books are so valuable, & we believe the seeds being planted during our lesson this year will grow to produce life-changing impact. We cannot thank our donors enough for this wonderful gift!
Please join us in praying for our students this year, that their hearts & minds would be enlightened to the truth of God’s Word & receptive to His great love for them.
The Greatest Gift Exchange
Before we go on break to spend the holidays with our own families, our little Afterschool family is getting together for the ultimate Christmas party at Home of the Nomad! Some of our fondest memories with students happen at The Greatest Gift Exchange every year, so we can’t wait to do it again. We’re going to deck the halls, prepare lots of food, & make our home as cozy as possible. There will be lots of hot chocolate drinking, Christmas crafting, gingerbread house-decorating, video gaming, & gift exchanging throughout the evening.
The gift exchange is always so special. It’s amazing to watch our students burst with joy as they open up their presents. Every year we ask the students what they want for Christmas, & every year we find donors who are excited to purchase gifts. It’s an incredible privilege to give each kid exactly what he or she asks for. This small way of partnering with others to share the love of Jesus has made a huge impact & created many unforgettable memories. If you are interested in contributing to The Greatest Gift Exchange this Christmas, please tap the link below to message us:
**The Greatest Gift Exchange will be held from 5pm - 8pm at Home of The Nomad on December 12th, 2024. All gifts must be PURCHASED by December 1st.**
Winter Break
The Greatest Gift Exchange Christmas party on December 12th is the last day of The COVE: Afterschool for the year! Programming will resume again in February, 2025.
In the meantime, we plan to rest & ask God to prepare us for the next season of ministry. Please pray that we would actually experience real rest. We are praying that you will find time & space to do the same.
#GivingTuesday
In just a week, families across the nation will be sitting around the dinner table together, eating turkey & stuffing, catching up with their cool aunt, & (for better or worse) listening to Mariah Carey’s iconic 1994 rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” But did you know there is a globally-recognized holiday happening just days later?
#GivingTuesday is a celebration of radical charity. Nonprofits & other helping organizations around the world are doing incredible things for their communities, & they continue to make a difference because of generous donors who believe in their mission. The Novelty Collective is no exception. We only get to host events, run youth programs, & provide free access to our studios at The COVE Art Center because of the support we raise throughout the year. There is nothing we can say or do that will ever fully express the depths of our gratitude for the marvelous men & women who empower us to do what we do. We believe we have been called & equipped by God to carry out His work in Pittsburgh. So far, that hasn’t changed, & the results have been nothing short of miraculous!
However, this crazy thing we do is actually pretty tough, & it often comes with a great deal of sacrifice. Our hope for 2025 is sustainability. Our team has had to make some hard decisions & split our focus this this year because we haven’t quite gained the level of support that would allow us to give The Novelty Collective our complete attention. If you believe in what we do, & you haven’t come to a decision on where to donate for #GivingTuesday, please prayerfully consider supporting The Novelty Collective.
#GivingTuesday has been instrumental in helping us raise the revenue we need to continue the good work we do. We will be sending out a much shorter message with our Givebutter campaign posted sometime next week, so please be looking out. Meanwhile, you can learn more about who we are & how we are changing the community by exploring this website!
The End
Whether you are interested in taking a more active role within The Novelty Collective, or you simply enjoyed reading our newsletter, we would love to hear from you! You are a valued member of this community, & your feedback is important to us—as is your friendship! Don’t hesitate to reach out if there is something might be able to do for you, too!
Thank you so much for reading. We look forward to posting more photo content from NoCo Fest, sharing about the upcoming Christmas party, & posting our #GivingTuesday campaign very soon. Until then…
Blessings,
The NoCo Team
Article written by Jordan A. King
